Judge vacates verdict in Johnny Small case, charges still pending

Judge W. Douglas Parsons: “What I am here to decide is, did he receive a fair trial according to North Carolina and United States constitutions? And it is more than abundantly clear to me he did not.”

By F.T. Norton StarNews Staff

WILMINGTON -- Johnny Small was having trouble breathing.

As a judge in a New Hanover County courtroom Thursday detailed how the evidence used against him in a 1989 murder conviction was unreliable, the 44-year-old broad-shouldered man with his hands and feet shackled began to hyperventilate.

Small was just 16 when he was convicted of the 1988 killing of Pamela Dreher, 32, in her Wrightsville Avenue tropical fish store. He had spent 27 years in prison on a life sentence. All of his appeals had been denied.

On Thursday, after three and a half days of testimony spurred by the recantation of the state’s key witness in the case, Judge W. Douglas Parsons took just 20 minutes outside of the courtroom before walking back to the bench and announcing his ruling. With each declaration Parsons made, it became increasingly clear he was going to find in Small’s favor and Small's breathing became more labored.

Yet, even though Parsons ordered Small’s convictions vacated, he stopped just short of finding him innocent of the killing.

“This court does not find actual innocence in this case. I don’t know whether Mr. Small did this or not. Whoever did this is a monster,” Parsons said, “What I am here to decide is, did he receive a fair trial according to North Carolina and United States constitutions? And it is more than abundantly clear to me he did not.”

Parsons ordered Small onto house arrest and said the charges of first-degree murder and robbery are pending.

Thursday’s outcome was not what they’d hoped for. They wanted exoneration.

“Mr. Small is no more guilty of this crime than I am,” Mumma said outside the courtroom.

Around her, Small’s cousins, sister and friends hugged one another as they made arrangements to get civilian clothes for Small to wear home.

“I feel really good he’s free. It has been a long time coming,” said cousin Barbara Iverson, with whom Small will be living until New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David decides what to do with the case.

In a press release Thursday evening, David said that after the hearing he met with the attorneys from the NC Attorney General’s Office and Assistant Deputy District Attorney Lillian Salcinas Bright, who sat in on the proceedings.

“Now that the charges against Mr. Small revert to pending status, members of my office will meet with members of the Attorney General’s Office and the Wilmington Police Department to determine whether any additional investigation should be conducted or additional charges should be filed,” David wrote. “As this is a pending case, we are prohibited from making further comment.”

The hearing

The case against Small took center stage this week when Parsons heard testimony from 12 defense witnesses in a motion for appropriate relief filed by the NC Center on Actual Innocence.

Mumma and her team began investigating Small’s case in 2012 after Small’s teenage friend David Bollinger contacted Mumma and recanted his testimony that he was with Small at the time of the killing and Small confessed to him.

Bollinger testified that then-Wilmington Police Department detective James JJ Lightner threatened to seek the death penalty against him if he didn’t say Small was the killer.

Police focused on Small after a girl named Nina Raiford called a tip line two months after the killing and claimed she’d seen Small run out of the store and into a waiting car. Later she claimed Bollinger was driving.

Bollinger testified in court Monday and Tuesday that Lightner told him what to write in his statement to police placing blame for the killing on Small. Five other then-teenage witnesses who testified for the state at the murder trial also testified during this week's hearing and some made similar allegations against Lightner.

The evidence

When Mumma received copies of the WPD file on the case and copies of the district attorney’s files, she discovered several pieces of evidence favorable to Small were not given to the prosecution. As a result, Small’s attorney at trial, Rick Miller, was not given the information.

Among the items Mumma uncovered:

Information on other credible suspects in the case who didn’t appear to have been investigated.Documents that indicated a gun the prosecution said was used in the crime was found in Charlotte at a domestic dispute call and the WPD never collected it.Shell casings that belonged to that gun were found in the owner’s Wilmington backyard and taken into evidence by the WPD, but never tested against the shell casing found at the Dreher crime scene.A note from an interview with Raiford’s teacher which indicated Raiford told the teacher she’d gone into the store and seen Dreher’s body. In that first version of events, Raiford made no mention of seeing anyone leaving the store and her time card from work indicated she was still at work at the time of the killing.

The detective

Lightner was called by the defense and denied knowing anything about the gun being found and bullet casings being collected or compared. Additionally, he denied knowing anything about the note on Raiford’s story to her teacher. The 25-year veteran of the WPD testified he couldn’t recall many details of the case, but said he never threatened anyone or told the juvenile witnesses what to say in their testimony before the jury.

Parsons said that after hearing the testimony he began to realize, “Something’s not right here… Lots of what the witnesses said was corroborated by the Wilmington Police Department file.” He called Lightner's testimony troubling.

The judge also discounted the one piece of evidence that started it all -- Raiford's call to the tip line on a case that had gone cold.

Parsons said that after hearing all the facts, he determined Raiford’s testimony was not truthful and she had a motive to lie -- the reward offered by the tip line.

Reporter F.T. Norton can be reached at 910-343-2070 or Fran.Norton@StarNewsOnline.com.